D26 passed her road test Saturday morning! I feel like I have a whole new thing to worry about now 
She actually has not taken the car out alone yet as she had plans with friends Saturday night and all day yesterday and is not allowed to drive with anyone on the car yet. But she is planning on driving herself to school tomorrow 
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New level unlocked today for D26. 
Helped her put together a resume so she can apply to a frozen yogurt shop job. She hasnāt volunteered anywhere and has no prior job experience anywhere. When we were done putting together the resume, she said, āOh, now I know why youāve always wanted me to do extracurriculars at school.ā Yes, kiddo, resume building is one reason. 
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Thatās what I was thinking ā take advantage of the slower, summer months. Glad to hear someone else is contemplating an August test. I was concerned it was too early.
My boys (both currently in college) took the SAT in-school spring of junior year, and I probably would have waited and done the same for my D26. However, given our Stateās switch to the ACT, it feels like I should get the SAT done and out of the way sooner. None of my kids have ever tried the ACT (not even a sample or practice exam), so I have no idea what to expect with that test!
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Sophomore year is in the books for S26. Last Thursday was his last day of school. He tells me he is finishing the year with a 3.75 GPA (I havenāt seen official grades yet), which would be excellent for him. He is my smart but lazy kid.
Summer will be dominated by his sport. His travel team just won two different leagues and the State tournament, so there is quite a bit of post season play and travel. I hope he can still get some refereeing in to make some money. He is spending a lot more now that he is driving 
As for testing, he took the ACT in school in March and made a high enough score to get our stateās tuition scholarship. But itās not a great score (and the cutoff is at the legislatureās whim, so they might change eligibility rules until he actually starts college). He will take it again in school next March and then I will probably schedule a regular test in April or May next year.
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D26 woke up this morning with a horribly sore throat and sinus pain. She has so much work at school right now and they do not finish until June 17! She is staying home today and will try to get some extra work done. It sucks that she is sick this time of year. Tomorrow is her S24ās graduation so she will need to rally for that. There is still SO much illness going around up here in New England- flu, covid, strep, now pertussisā¦it sucks.
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Hope your kiddo feels better soon!
Report cards came out today! D26 did pretty well considering that she missed over a monthās worth of school over the course of the school year, especially in the 2nd half of the year. Ended up with a B+ in Honors Chemistry, which sheās pretty happy about because that was a tough class. Got Aās in English and Biology. Got a C in AP Precalc, but that will go up to a B if she got a 3 on the AP exam.
D26ās high school adjusts grades up or down on AP classes based on the score you get on the AP exam, so the B she got in AP European History could go up to an A and Precalc could go from a C to a B. Wonāt know about that until the AP scores come out in July.
Hitting the road day after tomorrow to stay with friends so D26 & I can go to Disneyland on her birthday on Sunday! (DH is going to a mandatory work conference + big sister D24 is on a choir trip right now in NYC and isnāt back until Monday) Weāll be a Disneyland on the last day of Hyperspace Mountain. I CANāT WAIT! D26 said she wants to get another lightsaber from Dok Ondarās. I told her that if she just wants to eat chicken fingers and ice cream all day, thatās totally fine. 
As for me, Iām gettinā one of the corn dogs on Main Street from the Little Red Wagon. Weāre going to be there open to close (8 am - 11 pm). WOO!!!
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@coastal2024 ā Hope your D is feeling better and congrats on your sonās graduation!
@sbinaz ā Really interesting to hear that AP exam scores impact grades. I would have LOVED that for one of my boys (great with tests but not with homework).
My D26 will finish school next week with finals M-T-W and grades due on F. Itās a nail biter in High Honors Chem BC. Right now sheās at an 89. Ugh. Sheās stuck with a B in math (High Honors PreCalc) but canāt fall below a B even if she bombs the final. So thatās good, I guess. All other classes are comfortable Aās. Really hoping for a Chemistry miracle!!
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Update on D26ā¦ after worrying about this for weeks, she did end up running for one of these positions, and won by a big margin. Itās been an interesting few weeks talking to her about it. The idea of running for leadership was a stretch for her at first, and she struggled mightily over her campaign speech, etc. But sheās really excited about it now, and it has made her see herself differently.
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Weāre back from D26ās birthday at Disneyland. D26 said she had a great time. We did an open-to-close day w/friends who live in the area. Totally awesome and very tiring day. D26 got a Darth Vader light saber. We got to watch fireworks in front of the Millennium Falcon while they played Star Wars music. Got to go on Hyperspace Mountain. Walked about 13 1/2-14 miles. D26 is recuperating and still asleep as I type this.
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Hi! New here. My eldest, S26, is finally locked in on where he wants to go from here, getting ready to finish up sophomore year. Astrophysics! Heās incredibly smart in general, but heās especially skilled in math and science (and art but he wants to keep that as a hobby), and heās been getting straight Aās sinceā¦ Kindergarten lol. Yes, Iām one proud mom!
Iām stoked for him and itās a little wild seeing him really come into his own this year. I feel like I was just in high school but it was 20 years ago somehowā¦
Heās getting ready to take behind the wheel next week (heās super nervous - just like me), and weāre looking into summer programs/jobs/internships. Of course, he just wants to chill out this summer but he knows his junior year is the most important for college resume and this is the summer to get serious about things.
If anyone knows of any STEM/Astrophysics related programs, help a girl out!
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Internships are few and far between at this age, and probably already filled. Start looking for next summer in January. However, you should be able to find some camps or enrichment opportunities. Good luck!
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It is pretty late, but he might look at science camps for younger children and see if they need a junior counselor or volunteer.
Iām not sure where you live and what is available in your area. Museums, libraries, nature conservatories, etc. often need volunteers. HS students are often on top of this, so spots might be already filled for this summer.
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Special summer programs are probably good for next year. A regular old summer job is a great idea for this year. Itās one of the best extracurriculars and you canāt go wrong with a job, even if thatās what he does next summer as well. Grocery stores and assisted living facilities often hire teens in our area.
The main role of academic camps and whatnot is to help the kid figure out what they like and give them some exposure to the college setting, rather than being a resume booster.
What state do you live in? If youāre in the west, Arizona, UCSC, and UCSB are astro powerhouses, so Iād check out HS summer programs there.
There are lists of some astro HS programs:
https://aas.org/careers/internships-summer-jobs
https://blog.rishabacademy.com/2024/04/17/ultimate-list-of-astrophysics-summer-programs-for-high-schoolers/
There are, of course, less competitive and cheaper programs (but still high quality) at all kinds of universities where he could do physics projects to explore his interests.
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UCSC has an astrophysics summer program but itās way too late. Also the UC summer internship programs are very competitive. I would start checking out the sites in Feb/Jan time frame to see when applications open up. My S26 was pretty bad about this, this year despite multiple reminders didnāt ask for recommendation letters in time or dragged his feet in writing essays. Good practice for the future but missed a few opportunities.
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First time posting here. S26 is my second and youngest one. Looking at all your kiddos grades and number of APs, I am not sure we would fit in here lol. Kid is a very hard worker but pretty average grade wise, mix of As and Bs with a couple of Cs too this year. He has testing anxiety big time. So any class where the major chunk of grades are tests/finals, he ends up doing not so great.
So with that in mind, big debate in our house is whether he should do any prep classes for SAT/ACT or not, is it worth it. We are in CA so scores not needed for UCs and CSUs. With how difficult UCs have gotten, and his GPA not so hot, weāll be focusing mainly on CSUs. But I feel he should look into OOS colleges too and it would be a good idea to at least try SAT once.
Are you kids prepping for SATs this summer, or waiting to give it later?
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If your son has test anxiety, he may want to do some SAT prep just to get used to the standardized test.
There are lots of kids who improve their scores the 2nd/3rd time taking the exam. My D24 said the biggest reason she scored much higher the 2nd time was because she was more familiar with the test and not any additional knowledge.
Practicing early also helps kids understand pacing and time management. If kids take too long on certain problems and start running out of time, they start to panic.
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You might look at WUE schools.
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Iām not going to bother having D26 do test prep.
FWIW, my D24 had an unweighted 3.33 GPA and got accepted test optional to everywhere she applied (some were Colleges That Change Lives schools, sheāll be attending one of them this fall). She had a few Cās on her transcript. Highest test score for her was a 1200 SAT.
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S26 is taking the ACT at this moment. He might have perused the sample questions on the ACT website. His plans are this test, the October SAT, the state-mandated ACT next spring, and then maybe one more attempt at the test he favors. If he does any prep for the SAT it will via Khan Academy.
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